The Dark Prince, a Fairy Tale
by Daphne Oso
Summary: This story is derived from the first two episodes of the Star Wars Sequel, with Kylo Ren/Ben and Rey as its central characters.
1. chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a far-away galaxy, there was a principality beautiful and prosperous, which was ruled by Princess Leia, her husband Han, and her brother Luke.  
Leia and Han had a son named Ben, a boy rather intelligent and good looking, but melancholy as well. With raven hair and eyes, his smileless face seems so serious that others always consider him as arrogant and cold.  
But no one took such arrogance and coldness as improper, for they are the born rights for a prince with such glorious and extraordinary parentage.  
As Ben was the only son of the monarch, no peers shared his hierarchy in the entire principality; and as both his parents busy doing things he did not understand or care about, they were absent from the majority of his childhood.  
As a result, he lived in the splendid palace only with nannies and servants around him, and this fact made him desperately lonely and unhappy.  
"How ridiculous!" he said to himself, "how can mom and dad say they love me when they even refuse to visit me?"  
He sometimes wondered whether "love" really exists, or it is just another concept faked up to fool little kids.  
He did not consider himself as a weak and foolish child. On the contrary, in his opinion, he was already mature enough to show others his mightiness.  
Although at that time he had not realized what his "mightiness" was.  
His thoughts, even the subtlest ones, had been monitored by Snoke, a bald and disfigured creature hidden in the dark corner of the galaxy. No one knew who he was and where he came from, but one thing was certain: he was dangerous and wicked.  
Since many years ago, Snoke had had an evil plan, and when reading Ben's childish ambition in mind, he knew this was the right timing for him to implement it.

When Ben was twelve years old, Leia told him he should become Uncle Luke's apprentice.  
Being trained by the famous Master Luke Skywalker was the dream of many little kids. Because this means they might follow the master's footprints in heroic legend, and heroes, of course, all boys want to be.  
At least Leia, Han and Luke thought so.  
But the prospect of leaving his beloved parents tortured Ben very terribly. He had no interest in heroic tales at all, and was unable to see any possibility of happiness if being part of them.  
But the fear and worry of a twelve-year-old boy would not be deemed as significant. In the adults' opinion, a child of such age is truly old enough to prepare for his future, but too young to decide what the "future" should be.  
All of Ben's objections were in vain. His family members stubbornly believed in his potential to be a good knight, and his destiny to be upright and great as he was born a prince.  
Therefore, Ben finally became Uncle Luke's apprentice, and the experience of training proved to be as terrible as, if not more terrible than, what he had imagined.  
His loneliness became almost unbearable. For the first time he thought he was abandoned, and this thought really angered him.  
"Only heir apparent of the dark lord Darth Vader, it's the right time for you to inherit his great cause interrupted for too many years."  
When lying in his simple small bed, Ben felt someone was talking to him. It seemed like that the sound was from a place far away, but at the same time, it might just come from his own head.  
"Who are you? And...who is Darth Vader?" He asked astonishingly.  
"Oh, they concealed too much from you. But don't worry, I will tell you all, so you can choose your own future based on your own judgment." The voice was deep and seductive.

During that night, Snoke told all things about Darth Vader which he thought Ben should know.  
The powerful but half-forgotten lord of darkness once made remarkable achievements, he could have been even greater, but regretfully failed at the last moment. Most importantly, Darth Vader is the grandfather of Ben.  
"But my grandpa is the hero Anakin Skywalker, at least they told me so." Ben was really confused.  
"What they told you is also true, but they deliberately omit the later part of his life, and this part is more important. Young man, the dark side is inside your blood and it will lead you to finish what your grandpa started. Join me, I promise you will be what you were meant to be."  
This invitation, Ben did not accept or refuse. Snoke knew the young man had not made the final decision. But it was a good start as Ben already believed his story.  
Snoke left Ben's head only after telling him he would be welcomed at any time.  
The old creature did not wait too long.  
As Ben's dark side became increasingly obvious, Uncle Luke could not ignore it. But at first he was confident to pull the boy back to the light side.  
Unfortunately, as time went on, the negative aspects of Ben, such as anger and depression, became almost uncontrollable. Uncle Luke even saw a vision of the future, which was about all the deaths and miseries his nephew was going to bring to the galaxy.  
Uncle Luke thought he must do something to avoid the terrible prospect.  
Standing beside Ben's bed, with his sword in hand, for one moment the old hero really considered the possibility of killing his nephew, which would be the most convenient solution.  
Although he immediately despised himself for this evil thought, it was too late: Ben had waked and was depressed when sensing his uncle's intention.  
Uncle Luke tried to explain, but the boy was too frightened to listen to him. Ben, who had been a skilled swordsman, managed to escape, just leaving his uncle regretting and sighing.  
In the dark night outside, the teenage boy cried desperately and swore he would never reunite with the people abandoning and failing him.  
Now it seemed like that Snoke was his only choice, and as promised, the old creature welcomed and accepted Ben as his apprentice.  
From then on, there was no Ben the Prince, but a dark knight named Kylo Ren.  
He hid his face in a metal mask. This was because his grandfather once wore a mask and was feared by others. He eagerly wished to be as strong as Darth Vader, and then his parents and uncle would recognize him as a powerful adult capable enough to choose his own future.  
He wished to become the person he means to be, and was willing to sacrifice anything if necessary.  
Several years later, Snoke's First Order, which was the sworn enemy of Leia's principality, had become a great power in the galaxy. As one of the most dominant leaders there, after doing many evil deeds and bringing numerous tragedies to the galaxy, Kylo Ren was deemed as a hopeless villain. More unforgivably, when Han tried to take him back, he killed his old father cruelly.  
Leia and Luke were so disappointed that they thought the former Ben had forever gone.  
But unexpectedly, a new turn would lead the entire story to a totally different direction.  
One day, in the battlefield, or more specifically, in a forest, Kylo Ren met a girl fighting for his home principality.  
He had heard much about this talented female warrior. But when first meeting her, he realized there was something astonishingly attractive in her. Beholding the girl, he suddenly became fascinated and he didn't know why.  
"Maybe she was a princess from some faraway kingdom, or a damsel with noble bloodline and prestigious education."  
She was a scavenger in the desert area, a nobody from nowhere.  
He feared that his mask might frighten the girl. He wished to behave gently, and thus for the first time during recent years, he removed it from his head in front of a stranger, showing her his face, and the smile on it.  
He wanted to tell her "Don't be afraid." But before he could utter a single word, the girl had roared angrily, "You're a monster."


	2. Chapter 2

In that snowy night, the girl struck down Kylo Ren and sliced his right half of face.The wound started from the neck, extended upwards in the cheek, and ended above the eyebrow.

Fortunately, his right eye was unharmed and thus he escaped the fate of becoming half-blind. But in front of the girl, he behaved like a boy totally blind and lost all abilities to counterattack.

When she left the battlefield covered by bright white snow, Kylo Ren, who had black hair and wore black robe, was lying with a dreadful scar on his face and a painful wound in his heart.

After he returned, Snoke mercilessly mocked him, and pointed out that, his weakness was derived from his compassion for the girl, not the girl's own strength. Very soon, it was widely known that, the mighty Kylo Ren was defeated by a poorly trained and inexperienced girl, and others all considered this failure as his terrible shame.Generally, such a shame would naturally lead to hatred. But Kylo Ren did not hate the girl at all. That sounds strange but it was absolutely true. On the contrary, only when thinking about her, could he feel the peace and satisfaction never experienced before. He longed to see her again.

Several days later, something magic happened.When he was alone, suddenly, the girl appeared before his eyes.

At first he thought it was just another daydream, but when the girl angrily called him "monster" and blamed him for his patricide, he realized it must be the girl herself, or more accurately speaking, the phantom of her.

This was because in his dreams during the past several nights, she was definitely much more gentle towards him.

"Yes I am", Kylo Ren answered in his deep voice. Facing the girl's accusation, he did not even try to defend himself.

His honesty and frankness astonished the girl, who never supposed a "villain" like him would react this way. The aura was awkward, but as neither of them knew how their connection began, both of them were ignorant about how to end it.

After a while, it was the girl who continued the conversation.

"Why did you kill your own father? Why did you hate him so much?" she asked sadly, almost sobbing.

Although only knowing Han for a short time, she already considered this man as a father figure in her life. Living as a deserted child in the desert, she desperately desired a family. But what was so precious to her seemed annoying to him. She couldn't understand why."I didn't hate him." Kylo Ren answered as if he was talking about his breakfast instead of an unforgivable sin.

The girl was astonished for a second time.

It was not so easy to either explain or understand such an abnormal motivation of killing. It was the perpetual struggle in a teenager's inner world, and the eagerness to break the cocoon of the past to build a new self.It was a process about growing up, or the failure to do so.

This process seemed extremely difficult for Ben, who considered himself as abandoned by his parents and betrayed by his uncle. To avoid hurt, he desired to become a person as strong as his grandfather, and believed darkness was the only way to success. He despised the weakness inherited from his paternal side, and wrongly considered killing his father as the only solution.

But when sharing his past with the girl, he knew clearly how ridiculous this thought was. As the memory of killing his father haunted him day and night, sleep became a horrible ordeal recently.

When he talked about it, no matter how calm his voice was, the fierce tides inside his heart were tormenting him mercilessly.

The girl finally realized how pathetic the "monster" was, and unconsciously, her expressions became tender.Watching the look on the girl's face, Ben was ecstatic to confirm that she was the only person who could understand him.In fact, the girl discovered not only the boy's humane part, but also the same loneliness she too suffered during the previous years in her life.

The shared agony tied them together more tightly than anyone could imagine.Before meeting him, she never dared to hope that, in the entire vast galaxy, there would be a man so close to her, not geographically, but psychologically.

At that night, when the girl was sitting beside the bonfire, with Ben's phantom here, she realized something changed forever in her life.

She was courageous enough to embrace this change.

"You are not alone." she told him softly with true affection."Neither are you." he replied without hesitation.Then, she stretched out her right hand towards him, slowly but steadily.

His image looked so real that she thought she could touch him directly.

The ugly scar on his face created by this very hand several days ago, she couldsee clearly. Feeling sorry, she thought at least she was fortunate, for if the wound was deeper even just a little, there would be no chance to have him beside her.

Ben knew her intention, although at first he did not dare to believe such happiness befalling him. Very carefully, he took off the pure black glove covering his right hand, and following her example, stretched out this hand to touch the person destined to change his life.

They were shivering, not due to coldness or fear, but because of excitement and joy. This was the first time for them to touch each other physically not as enemies, but as the most unique and precious beings for each other.If before that day, fate was always too mean to them, then at that moment, they were sincerely grateful to it.

Two broken pieces finally found the other half to make them whole.When touching Ben's fingers, the girl saw the blurry vision about their future: Ben would stand beside her and they would belong to the same side finally. This vision, also so obscure, was enough for she to make a crazy decision.

She was determined to go to Snoke's palace and take Ben back all by herself.

How crazy it was?

If she fails, and she was likely to fail, she would be killed; and if she fails and survives, she may live a life of suffering.But if she does not try, she would certainly suffer.

So it was not about choosing between two options, she just knew what she must do.

It was understandable that, Luke, who trained her at that time, opposed rather strongly; but she was too stubborn to compromise, and managed to leave without the master's permission.

Then she crossed seas, forests, deserts and planets to fulfill her mission.

As I have mentioned above, between them there was a magic bond, and in old Snoke's dark palace, Ben felt her approaching.

As love could make all boys into poets, he was desperately searching for wording to properly express his affection when meeting her face to face.

He wished to tell her, for him she is like the pearl. The sapphire and diamond, they are gems from the very beginning. But the pearl is different. It comes from dust and waste, but the oyster's agony makes it a precious gem. Although its brilliancy is not as dazzling as many others', its tenderness is the very thing to console his heart in seemingly endless nightmares. But he was not good at wording and it was definitely not the good timing to write poem.

He was worried, for Snoke would not allow her to do what she wanted.

When the girl finally arrived at the destination, her prince was greeting her, and only within a moment she had been arrested by him.

He knew Snoke would notice his lovely intruder very soon, and the best method to protect her was escorting her all by himself.

She understood his intention, and grasped any opportunity to talk to him on the way.

"I can see the conflict in your heart, you will join my side, come back, Ben, I will help you." She said to him gently.

"I also see the future, but it is you who will turn." He replied.

Then neither of them persuaded the other.They didn't have much time, and when Ben took the girl to Snoke's Throne Room, he knew the real ordeal was coming; but before he figured out a solution, Snoke's words first shocked him.

"It is me who connected you two." Snoke said complacently and Ben felt the old creature was even more disgusting than before.

As Snoke believed the girl was the last connection between his talented but emotionally unstable apprentice and the light side. In order to make the boy stronger, he figured out this evil scheme: first strengthening their mutual bond, so when finally Ben cut it off, he will be strong enough to overcome any challenge psychologically.

But before ordering Ben to execute, Snoke thought she was valuable in another aspect also. She must know precious information about his enemies, so torturing her cruelly to extort confessions would be a good idea.

To Snoke's disappointment, she was a headstrong secret keeper, no matter how severe the pain was, she did not leak anything.

Ben, who was already upset when knowing the truth of the bond, was frustrated and angered when hearing the girl screaming.

But as Snoke had mysterious magic power, he still read the girl's mind and obtained what he wanted.

"Now, finish your training and fulfill your destiny." Snoke told Ben while pushing the girl to him, knowing Ben knew what this action meant.

She was handcuffed and forced to kneel down without any strength to resist.

"I must do what I should do." Ben said to the girl without expressions on his face but with a sword in his hand.It seemed like that he had made the decision.

Snoke was very glad, for this was the first time he saw no conflict in his apprentice's heart, finally the boy became so steady a man.

But he was not happy for long; before he could realize what happened, Ben had horizontally split him into two halves.The girl could not believe what she was experiencing and did not know whether she was frightened or delighted.

This was not what she expected, but better than it.

However, she did not know something even more unpredictable was going to happen.

"Then what happened, mom?" a 5-year-old girl with black straight long hair asks curiously and eagerly.

Her mother, the teller of the fairy tale, is a brown-haired woman in her middle 20s.

"Mom, I want to know what happened too." a boy added. He and the girl are twins, but they look very different from each other. The sister's face is narrow and oval, while the brother's is wide and round; and his hair is brown and curly instead of black and straight.

The three are in a small stone cabin, which was built in the cliff of a small island. It is a silent night, and the only sounds are their voices and the roar of waves.

Their mother smiles and continues.

"After killing Snoke, Ben walked towards the girl, and invited her to rule the galaxy with him. As Snoke had died, he was the new supreme leader of the First Order."

"She accepted this invitation?" the little girl with black hair asks excitingly.

"I don't think so, Leia, she must refuse." her brother is certain.

"Ani is right, the girl refused." their mother stares at them and replies.

"Then...finally did they live happily ever after? I think they should because this is a fairy tale, isn't it?" little Leia asks her mother, hoping to get the answer she wants.

"Yes they did. After many things happened they finally overcame all difficulties, but it would take a long time to elaborate the details and you two should go to bed right now! Don't forget tomorrow Chewie will visit you and you'd better get up early to welcome him."

"Can I learn how to be a pilot from him? I want to learn it very very much, mom." Ani asked sincerely."I think he will be very happy to teach you, but you're too small to practice in Falcon, my son, and now what you can learn is very limited."

"In the future, I will be as tall as dad and at that time I will be able to drive Falcon, right?" Ani says.

"Yes, sure, you will." His mother smiles and answers.

The boy is delighted and satisfied, but his sister has another question to ask.

"Mom, dad's name is Ben, just like the prince's, and the prince's mother is also called Leia. Is it just a coincidence?" Little Leia keenly points out the doubt.

"It might be, at least they are good names and many people would name their babies this way." The mother wishes she finds a reasonable excuse.

"Leia, dad is a fisherman and a wonderful amateur pilot, he is already very busy so he could not be a prince at the same time." Ani tries to persuade his sister with his naive logic.

Then another voice joins them.

"Yes, a man could not be a fisherman and a prince at the same time." Outside the door of this simple residence, a very tall and strong man suddenly appears. His hair is as black as little Leia's and as curly as Ani's.

The children are screaming out of excitement, and rush to hug him tightly.

"Dad!" They shouted.Their father kisses his little angels, raises them up and goes to bow and kiss his wife.

"Welcome home, Ben." She says gladly, tiptoes, and kisses her children's father.

"Thank you, Rey." He says sincerely and seriously, in his old deep voice.

"For what?" She was a bit surprised.

"For what I have now."

(End)


End file.
